Fox & Geese anyone?

This winter must be getting a little long...I'm attempting to blog again!

After our recent little 5-6" snowstorm, we got another dose of "pretty" and everything was white again.  Then right away the next morning I looked out our window and I saw this:

That is evidence of our two flocks of turkeys--one with about 30 turkeys and another flock fewer in number but BIGGER turkeys...like this:

These turkeys pretty much live in and around our yard all day, mostly because we feed them--and the deer--shelled corn twice a day.

Looking out at all of the turkey (and deer) tracks in our yard brings to mind a couple things related to expanses of untouched snow.  One memory relates to the title of this blog--the game of Fox and Geese. [http://grandmaideas.com/fox-and-geese]  To play this game in the snow you first need to mark out the playing area in the shape of a wagon wheel, like this:

The center is "home" or free space for the "geese" and the fox "it" chases the geese only on the spokes of the wheel.  This was something we often played when my cousin Charlotte and her family were around.

My other memory comes from when I was about 11 or 12 and living in Illinois.  The mother of one of my classmates was VERY particular about how her front yard looked and got quite upset when any of the neighbor kids (perhaps her daughter and friends?) played in the snow in their front yard and messed it up.  She wasn't even my mother and that's what still comes to mind when I look out on a "messed up" yard.  I wonder how my friend, Jeanne, has come through life!!

But we really like our turkeys and deer.  And come spring and summer we are going to have a crop of grass like no other, because those turkeys leave behind more more than just turkey tracks!

And here are a couple of today's deer visitors.  Turkeys all day, deer all night!